Land Between the Lakes, TN and KY

Arriving late to camp at Land Between the Lakes which straddles the KY TN border on the western end of the states, we were tired, and looking for the campsite - if there were any open. The welcome center was closed, it is obviously off season. We saw a couple men in pickups and inquired about the campground. They said we could probably just set down right there for the night and "get away with it". We smiled and thanked him but said we were looking for the campground with the bathhouse and hookups. He directed us to the Piney campground within the park which was 8 miles away.

We arrived to a very pleasant surprise of the facility being dog friendly and the camping fee was just $16 a night with electric hookup. The guardhouse has a military feel to it and I am sure in summer it is necessary as the park has 1500+ campsites but right now there are very few campers here. We were in a loop by ourselves. This is a great time to camp as all the leaves are still off the trees so it is possible to see more and do more without the undergrowth impeding hiking or the leaves obscuring views of wildlife.

The park was formed when the Barkley dam was built thus creating lakes from 2 rivers. Like many national parks, this park was formed from land taken from people. Most voluntarily and even happily sold but those who did not lost their land through eminent domain. As many of you know this was a very deep sore spot when Shenandoah National Park was established and a large part of the history lost when the land was taken. That is not the case in this park. While all the buildings are gone, markers are placed so that visitors are aware of where churches and schools once stood and the cemeteries are well marked as well,

On the way to the Golden Pond visitors center one is met with a pyramid beside the road - the Great Western Furnace. Built in 1854 and operated for only 34 weeks and was never fired again. This was slave operated and the owner sold the slaves along with all the wagons and tools it took to operate the furnace. There were 80 slaves that went with the sale. For my friends who are interested in slag, I show you the blue slag produced as the waste from the furnace still plentiful in the stream across from the furnace. Iron making was hard, hot and dangerous work.

At the Golden Pond visitors center, we learned a very brief history of the area and looked at the exhibits.

Elk and bison have been introduced to the park. As of yet we have not had a chance to elk watch but have seen many bison.

There are ducks - sorry folks, I don't know what kind, geese, and although far away, it looked like pelicans. The picture of the geese really is that green because it is in a different part of the park where everything is a little greener.

I can see the big white birds when I blow it up and they appear to be big white pelicans but these birds are about a half mile in the distance and no matter how big a lens you have at the time - a bigger one could be useful. Beautiful sight in any case,

In our exploring, the oldest cemetery we found was from very early 1800s. This is one cemetery where it appears the entire family died at one time. There was a pair of shoes outside the cemetery sitting on a log that must have been here sitting just like this for a couple of years given there are leaves inside the shoes.

Many ridges dot the landscape. There are flower bulbs left now blooming were houses once stood and we snacked on a few black walnuts found.

We had to make a stop in Dover, TN to get a few items and found the smallest Walmart I have ever seen and it sold only food.

On our way back into the park we saw turkey.

On some more journeys we found a weather station perched on a hill,

We saw a lot of "what was that" kind of things. We saw wire in the middle of a tree. The wire tacked onto the tree, the tree grew around the wire and now is in the middle of the tree.

We came across what I call a kissing tree in the woods. It is off trail and reasonably deep in the woods.

There are not huge amounts of deer in the park but we did see a few.

Our campsite is next to the water so we have a great view of water life. I think this is a heads up from the turtles.

 Views are great.

Shells and stones are many. For my rockhound friends, flint and chert are abundant and limestone as well. There is some sandstone.

The bank of the water is reasonably clean but we did find this large thing - an old buoy I guess.

And I think you call this an uh oh? Problem? Or maybe Whoops?

Buddy thought he could be Gilligan...

Buddy went to see about a fishing license, I stayed behind and sat on a log at waters edge to watch the ducks and was treated to what appears to be an osprey catching a bass. I had my Nikon with me with the zoom lens but no time to do anything but shoot - no tripod, no fine focus, just shoot. It is not enhanced in any way, simply cropped for the web. Amazing. Fishermen stand all day and catch nothing, the osprey simply appeared, took one snatch and flew off with dinner.

Ah, today was overcast so I stayed inside a while to write this up and catch up on a few things. We leave tomorrow for Arkansas tomorrow. I will be back to this park - come off season, bring your doggie and your camera - it's great.

I leave you with a picture of a late afternoon at the campsite.